563.This section enables the Secretary of State to make public service vehicle accessibility regulations specifying the technical standards applying to buses and coaches, to provide greater accessibility to disabled passengers including when seated in a wheelchair. The requirements can relate to the construction, use and maintenance of the vehicle, to the design and carriage of equipment, and to wheelchair restraints and wheelchair position.
564.This section replicates the provisions of section 40 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
Buses and coaches must meet certain technical standards in respect of equipment and design to ensure accessibility by disabled passengers. If accessibility features, such as handrails or other aids, were present when the vehicle was approved but have subsequently been removed, the bus must not be used on the road.